In MSS. we find the spelling <Arabic> bárha, and <Arabic> bárah. The lexicographist Bahár i 'Ajam (Tek Chand) in his grammatical treatise, entitled Jawáhir ul Hurúf, says that the names of Indian towns ending in <Arabic> form adjectives in <Arabic>, as <Arabic>, Tattah or <Arabic> T'hat'ha, forms an adjective <Arabic> tatawí; but of <Arabic> no adjective is formed, and you say sádát i bárha, instead of sádát i barhawí.

The name Bárha has been differently explained. Whether the derivation from the Hindí numeral bárah, 12, be correct or not, there is no doubt that the etymology was believed to be correct in the times of Akbar and Jahángír; for both the Ṭabaqát and the Tuzuk derive the name from 12 villages in the Duáb (Muzaffarnagar District), which the Sayyids held.

Like the Sayyids of Bilgrám, the Bárha family trace their origin to one Sayyid Abul Farah of Wásiṭ;* but their nasabnámah, or genealogical tree, was sneered at, and even Jahangír, in the above quoted passage from the Tuzuk, says that the personal courage of the Sayyids of Bárha—but nothing else—was the best proof that they were Sayyids. But they clung so firmly to this distinction, that some of them even placed the title of Sayyid before the titles which they received from the Mughul emperors, as Sayyid Khán Jahán (Sayyid Abul Muzaffar), and several others.

But if their claim to be Sayyids was not firmly established, their bravery and valour had become a by-word. Their place in battle was the van (haráwal); they claimed to be the leaders of the onset, and every emperor from the times of Akbar gladly availed himself of the prestige of their name. They delighted in looking upon them­selves as Hindústánís (vide p. 336). Their military fame completely threw to the background the renown of the Sayyids of Amrohah, of Mánikpúr, the Khánzádahs of Mewát, and even families of royal blood as the Çafawís.

The Sayyids of Bárha are divided into four branches, whose names are—1. Tihan­púrí; 2. Chatbanúrí, or Chátrauṛí;* 3. Kúndlíwál; 4. Jagnerí. The chief town of the first branch was Jánsaṭh; of the second, Sambalhaṛah; of the third, Majhaṛah; of the fourth Biḍaulí on the Jamnah. Of these four lines Muhammadan Historians, perhaps accidentally, only mention two, viz., the Kúndlíwál (<Arabic>) to which Sayyid Mahmúd (No. 75) belonged; and the Tihanpúrí (<Arabic>), of which Sayyid Khán Jahán was a member.

The Histories of India do not appear to make mention of the Sayyids of Bárha before the times of Akbar; but they must have held posts of some importance under the Súrs, because the arrival of Sayyid Mahmúd in Akbar's camp (p. 389) is recorded by all Historians as an event of importance. He and other Sayyids were, moreover, at once appointed to high mançabs. The family boasts also traditionally of services rendered to Humáyún; but this is at variance with Abulfazl's statement that Sayyid Mahmúd was the first that served under a Timuride.

The political importance of the Sayyids declined from the reign of Muhammad, Sháh (1131 to 1161), who deposed the brothers Sayyid 'Abdullah Khán and Sayyid Husain 'Alí Khán, in whom the family reached the greatest height of their power. What a difference between the rustic and loyal Sayyid Mahmúd under Akbar, and the above two brothers, who made four Timurides emperors, dethroned and killed two, and blinded and imprisoned three!*

The Sayyids of Bárha are even now-a-days numerous and ‘form the characteristic element in the population of the Muzaffarnagar district’ (Leeds' Report).

Abulfazl mentions nine Sayyids in this List of grandees, viz.—

1.	Sayyid Mahmúd (No. 75).		6.	Sayyid Jamáluddín (No. 217), son
2.	Sayyid Ahmad, his brother, (No. 91).			of 2.
3.	Sayyid Qásim (No. 105).	sons of 1.	7.	Sayyid Chajhú (No. 221).
4.	Sayyid Háshim (No. 143).		8.	Sayyid Báyazíd (No. 295).
5.	Sayyid Rájú (No. 165).		9.	Sayyid Láḍ (No. 409).

The Akbarnámah mentions several other Sayyids without indicating to what family they belong. Thus S. Jamáluddín, a grandson of S. Mahmúd (vide under 91); S. Sálim; S. Fáth Khán, (Bad. II., 180); &c.

The following trees are compiled from the Tuzuk, Pádisháhnámah, and Maásir.

<genealogy>

(a.) Sayyid Mahmúd of Bárha, Kúndlíwál.						Sayyid Ahmad, his brother. (No. 91).
1. S. Qásim. (No. 105.)	2. S. Háshim. (No. 143.)	3. S. 'Alí Açghar, Saif Khán. d. 1025.	4. Sayyid Jahángír, (Pád. I, 439.)	S. Jamáluddín, (No. 217.)
1. S. A´dam, Tuz. 80.	S. Báyazíd. (No. 295, ?)	S. Núrul 'Iyán. Pád. II, 735.	S. Ja'far Shujá'at Khán, d. 1052.
2. S. Sulaimán, Pád. I, b. 320.
	S. Sulṭán, Çalábat Khán, alias Ikhti­çáç Khán.		1. S. Muzaffar, Himmat Khán, Pád. II, 735.
			2. S. Quṭb. Pád. II, 746.
			3. S. Najábat. Pád. II, 749.

<genealogy>

(b.) Sayyid Dilír Khán ('Abdul Wahháb), d. 1042.
1. S. Hasan, Pád. I, b., 323.	2. S. Khalílullah, Pád. I, b., 323.

<genealogy>

(c.) Sayyid Hizabr Khán, d. 1047.	Sayyid 'A´lam, his brother. Perished with Prince Shujá', in Rakhang (Arracan).
S. Zabardast.

<genealogy>

(d.) Sayyid Khán Jahán i Sháhjahání, Tihanpúrí. (alias S. Abul Muzaffar Khán), d. 1055.			A brother.
1. S. Mançúr.	2. S. Sher Zamán, title, s. Muzaffar Khán.	3. S. Munawwar, Lashkar Khán.	1. S. 'Alí. Pád. II, 748.
		S. Wajíhuddín Khán.	2. S. Fírúz, Ikhtiçáç Khán, d. 1077.

The Pádisháhnámah (I., b., 312, 319; II., p. 733, 734, 735, 741, 752) mentions also S. Mák'han, d. 9th year of Sháhjahán; S. Síkhan; S. 'Abdullah; S. Muhammad, son of S. Afzal; S. Khádim; S. Sálár; S. Shiháb.

<genealogy<

(e.) Sayyid Qásim, Shahámat Khán [Chátrauṛí] (was alive in the 24th year of Aurangzíb).	a brother
	1. S. Nuçrat Yár Khán (under Muhammad Sháh).

<genealogy>

(f.) Sayyid Husain Khán, d. 1120.
1. S. Abú Sa'íd Khán.	2. Ghairat Khán.	3. Hasan Khán.

<genealogy>

(g.) Sayyid 'Abdullah Khán, [Tihanpúrí]. alias Sayyid Miyán (under Sháh 'A´lam I.)
1. S. Hasan 'Alí Khán; title, Quṭbul- mulk S. 'Abdullah Khán.	2. Amírul Mamálik S. Husain 'Alí Khán. (killed by Muhammad Sháh).
3. S. Saifuddín Husain 'Alí Khán.	4. S. Najmuddín 'Alí Khán.